Villanova among seven schools leaving Big East

A basketball hoop is reflected in the court behind a Big East Conference logo after Georgetown played Western Carolina in an NCAa college basketball game at the Verizon Center in Washington, on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. The seven Big East schools that don't play FBS football have decided to leave the conference and pursue a new basketball framework. The seven schools are: Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall and Providence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The late Dave Gavitt had a dream back in the late 1970s. The former Providence men’s basketball coach envisioned an Eastern conference with basketball at its core.

Gavitt saw that dream become a reality when the Big East Conference was formed in 1979.

Recently, though, football has become the focus as teams jump from one conference to the next to reap the financial benefits spawned by the development of conference championships and bowl games.

Advertisement

No conference has been hit harder by the conference shuffle game than the Big East. Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami and West Virginia left the conference for the ACC. Pittsburgh, Syracuse Louisville and Rutgers haven announced they’re headed to the ACC, too. Rutgers informed the Big East earlier this year that it’s going to the Big Ten.

That list does not included TCU, which agreed to join the league only to change its mind.

Finally, after two years of watching other schools jump ship, the seven non-football schools – Villanova, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Seton Hall – decided it was time to part ways with the Big East, too.

Saturday, the presidents from those seven schools voted unanimously to split from the conference as a group and return to the league’s basketball roots. They informed Big East commissioner Mike Aresco of their decision during a conference call late in the afternoon.

“Under the current context of conference realignment, we believe pursuing a new basketball framework that builds on this tradition of excellence and competition is the best way forward,” the seven schools said in a joint statement released Saturday.

“We look forward to building this new foundation with an emphasis on elite competition and a commitment to the development of our students engaged in intercollegiate athletics,” the statement went on to say. “That is where we will now spend our energy as we move forward.”

Exactly what that means remains a mystery. The presidents did not specify their intentions. However, they made it quite clear that their future does not include football. Sources have said the seven schools would like to form a conference with similar schools that have high-profile basketball programs. Xavier, Creighton, Butler, Dayton, Saint Louis and Richmond were some of the schools mentioned as possible targets for the new Big East, or whatever the conference is called. Gonzaga and St. Mary’s in California have also been mentioned as possibilities.

“There’s no target number (of members),” Georgetown athletic director Lee Reed told the Associated Press after the 15th-ranked Hoyas downed Western Carolina Saturday, 81-68. “I think it would be safe to say that at the right time, at the proper time, that those things will be discussed and dealt with.”

That includes the name of the league.

“St. John’s would love to keep the Big East name,” the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, the president of St. John’s, told the Associated Press. Rev. Harrington emphasized he was speaking only for his school. “I would like to hear what the football schools think and then try to make a compromise.”

Don’t expect the football schools, Connecticut, Cincinnati, South Florida and Temple, to give up the Big East name without a fight. The decision to split leaves those four schools in a state of limbo and could scuttle the league’s expansion plans.

Temple returned to the league for football this season and is scheduled to become a full member next July. Rutgers and Louisville are slated to remain in the conference through next year. Central Florida, Memphis, SMU and Houston are scheduled to become full members next year, too, while Boise State and San Diego State slated to join the conference for football only in 2013. Tulane has agreed to become a fulltime member in two years, while East Carolina and Navy are set to join the conference for football only in 2015.

“It’s going to be very, very interesting,” said one Big East source who asked not to be identified.

There are other issues, too. There is the time frame for the exit. League bylaws require a 27-month notice, but the conference has negotiated early outs with West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. There also is the matter of exit fees.

Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia had to pay a steep price to the league, but sources have said there is no exit fee required if the seven basketball schools leave as a group.

It’s all part of the ever changing landscape of college athletics.

“This is truly a unique period in intercollegiate athletics and it has presented us with an incredible opportunity moving forward to build upon our collective prominence,” Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro said in a statement. “The seven institutions serving as the foundation of this new framework offer some of the richest traditions in all of college sports, outstanding academic reputations, large and loyal fan-bases, and are located in some of the best markets in the nation. We are energized by the decision to build on this strong foundation of programs and move toward the future in a focused and optimistic way.”

There is reason for optimism. As a group, the seven schools already have four of the top television markets in the country covered (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington) as well an impressive basketball pedigree. The seven schools have combined for 19 Final Four appearances, with Georgetown (five) and Villanova (four) leading the way. Marquette has been to the Final Four three times, Providence and St. John’s twice and Seton Hall once.

“The opportunity for Villanova to work with these six schools on a new basketball framework that builds on the great basketball tradition established by the Big East is exciting,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement released by the university. “There is obviously a lot of change taking place in college athletics right now, and we are looking forward to a great future with these partners.”